Russia may be warming up to the idea of returning to the Black Sea Grain Initiative, although the U.S. says it has not seen any evidence of that yet.
The Kremlin pulled out of the yearlong deal that allowed Ukraine to ship out its agricultural products on July 17, and has since repeatedly attacked Ukrainian port and warehousing facilities, destroying an estimated 180,000 metric tons of grain in nine days. But by withdrawing from the agreement, Russia also curtailed its opportunities to export its own grain and fertilizer.
To bring those products to international markets and complete agricultural transactions, “they’re going to have to return to this deal,” said Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. “We have seen indications that they might be interested in returning to discussions. So we will wait to see whether that actually happens.”
Russia has frequently complained that exports of its grain and fertilizer, though not covered by sanctions imposed by the U.S. and its allies after Moscow invaded Ukraine, have been hindered by limits on insurance, payments and logistics.
The U.N., which brokered the initial deal along with Turkey, has been trying to restart the arrangement, seen as crucial to preventing a global food crisis. Ukraine is seeking other ways of exporting its foodstuffs but they are costlier and less efficient.
“Moscow is ready to return without delay to the grain deal, but after the conditions for Russia are fulfilled,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the state-run RIA news agency Tuesday.
‘The Russians were waiting for us’:Small Ukraine gains come at high cost
Developments:
∎ Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the U.N. Secretary-General, said the organization doesn’t have direct information about who’s behind the drone attacks in Moscow but “we are against any and all attacks on civilian facilities, and we want them to stop.”
∎ The Soviet coat of arms was being removed Tuesday from Ukraine’s tallest statue, the Motherland Monument in Kyiv. The Ministry of Culture said on Facebook that the coat of arms will be replaced by the Ukrainian trident in time for Ukraine’s Independence Day on Aug. 24.
∎ Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said some divisions of the Wagner Group mercenary fighters from Russia will remain in his country as the foundation for creating a “contract” army. “These are experienced people, mostly officers. This is their profession,” he said.
∎ More than 270 cultural sites have been damaged or destroyed by Russian attacks since the invasion in February 2022, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) says. Among them: 117 religious sites, 98 buildings of historical and/or artistic interest, 27 museums, 19 monuments and 12 libraries.
∎ A physician was killed and five people were wounded in a Russian missile strike on a hospital in the Ukrainian southern city of Kherson, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on Telegram.
Russia compares drone attacks on Moscow to 9/11
The Kremlin is comparing Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow’s financial district that have caused minor damage and no deaths with the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that killed thousands in the United States.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the Soloviev Live TV channel that, like Lower Manhattan, the Moscow City district is a civilian site hosting offices and residential buildings “that have nothing to do with the military.” Some of the buildings targeted by the drones did include defensive ministry offices.
“The 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers caused an enormous number of casualties, but the methods were the same,” she said. “We are seeing the same picture now, as if it is repeating itself.”
Earlier Tuesday, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said a skyscraper in central Moscow was damaged by a drone attack for the second time in 48 hours. Sobyanin said the facade was damaged, but no injuries were reported.
Russia has accused Kyiv of the attacks. Ukrainian officials have not directly addressed the incidents, but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after Sunday’s attack that it was “inevitable, natural and absolutely fair” to bring the war to Russian territory. Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak posted Tuesday on X, formerly Twitter, that “#Moscow is rapidly getting used to a full-fledged war, which, in turn, will soon finally move to the territory of the ‘authors of the war’ to collect all their debts.”
Russians ‘are not horrified’ by drone strikes
Popular pro-Kremlin commentator Margarita Simonyan said Russians won’t be intimidated by the Moscow attacks − “we are not horrified, we do not tremble,” she posted on social media. But Simonyan said she did ask military leaders how the drones were getting through to the city.
“The essence of their explanation is that the systems are designed for a different power − for rockets, planes − and this little thing is skipped, like birds are skipped,” Simonyan wrote. “Otherwise, all over the world, air defense would shy away at the birds around the clock.”
Simonyan, chief editor of the state-funded TV channel RT, also questioned how drones that were supposedly electronically disabled could wind up hitting the same skyscraper housing government offices on back-to-back days.
That rare development “at least requires explaining the comments that the electronic warfare downed them all,” she wrote.
White House, Sen. Graham respond to Russia nuclear threat
Sen. Lindsey Graham has issued a stern warning to Russia after a top Kremlin official said Moscow could resort to nuclear weapons if Ukraine’s counteroffensive results in Kyiv “taking away part of our land.” Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council and former Russian president, suggested Ukraine could take territory with the support of NATO. The White House, which has said there is no evidence Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing to use nuclear weapons, called Medvedev’s comments irresponsible.
Graham went further, posting: “To my Russian friends who talk about using nuclear weapons in Ukraine: You need to understand that would be an attack on NATO itself, given Ukraine’s proximity to NATO territory. Time to sober up, realize that your barbaric invasion of Ukraine is not working, withdraw and save many young Russians from a pointless death.”
Belarus says it has dispersed Russian nukes throughout country
More than half of the nuclear weapons Russia plans to deploy in Belarus have been delivered and dispersed throughout the country, Lukashenko said. Belarusians, Poles and Lithuanians, who share borders, have always lived together, but “now our Western neighbors are going crazy,” Lukashenko said.
“God forbid they will have to use this weapon. I still hope that this will not happen,” he said. “We don’t interfere in anyone’s garden, but please don’t interfere with us either.”
Putin agreed in March to begin moving some short-range, land-based tactical nuclear weapons into Belarus, which shares an almost 700-mile border with Ukraine. If verified, it is the first deployment of Russian nukes outside Russian territory since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991
“No one has ever attacked a nuclear country,” Lukashenko said.
